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The Halls of The Five
Backstory Centuries ago, in the cradle of Rio Suna, in the northern plains of Liosa, there stood a powerful civilization known as Ahazuara. Ahazuarans were well-versed in the arcane arts and the most learned of men were capable of supreme feats. Five of the most learned mages discovered how to raise themselves to Gods, and took their thrones one by one as rulers of Ahazuara. After centuries of rule by the God-Kings, a Plague struck the people of Ahazuara, killing all who could die. The God-Kings now rule over ruins, undying and godlike in their power. All of Ahazuaran magic is based on the realization that the world is a computer simulation. A poorly made one, at that. "Low Magic" is based on exploiting bugs, and involves complex rituals. "High Magic" is grounded on one particular bug that allows a mage to send commands to the universe. In essence, all mages are programmers. Gojac the Creator Gojac is at heart an inventor and a hedonist. Loneliness drove Gojac slightly out of his mind during an exile, and living for two thousand years does things to one's mind. Gojac specializes in creating life in many forms, from hulking Shrine Titans to drink waiters. Gojac recently gave himself wings and is still learning to fly. In his free time, Gojac drinks himself into a stupor and builds monstrosities (usually in that order). Garma the Sustainer The Sustainer is a motherly God, protective of whatever she deems hers. Several of the Creators' monsters have been incinerated for attacking one of Garma's favorite species. Garma is arguably the best ruler of The Five, and is usually the one being businesslike and doing things. Garma discovered immortality a hundred years after Gojac, and held the throne alone for a peaceful few centuries. Garma has the power of teleportation, but doesn't like to show it off. During her downtime (which is most of the time, as the country is mostly dead), Garma tends to her flock and wanders the forest. Kellus the Alterer Kellus has a huge ego. It can be argued that he deserves to have a huge ego, as he is the most intelligent of The Five and possibly the only person in history to truly understand magic. Kellus was the one to first de clare himself a God and is mostly responsible for spreading the misconception that the Five are indeed Gods. Kellus is responsible for eliminating the vital Sqrrl subsystem for which the universe was created. Kellus enjoys nothing more than magic and pushing its boundaries to dangerous levels. Rucahn the Inquirer The Inquirer is obsessed with finding the secret. He doesn't know what the secret is, but he is convinced that he will one day find the secret that allows him to unlock unlimited power and bring back his civilization. He spends his days searching for the secret in every field of research, from histroy to geography. Rucahn discovered immortality shortly before the Great Plague, and ruled over the living for only two decades. Rucahn lost the most in the Plague, as he still had surviving family and lovers when the Plague struck. However, his drive has toned down of late, as deals with Abbadon have brought some of his family back, albeit in a mockery of their former selves. Rucahn has telescience and a little bit of prescience. Because of this, Rucahn has become the more diplomatic one of the group, traveling to head off international concerns as soon as he sees them. Abbadon the Destroyer Abbadon was never a King of Ahazuara. Abbadon was sixteen when his experiments with Death rendered him immortal. As an angsty teenager, Abbadon did what any loner would do and destroyed all of civilization. Abbadon is a skeleton, as his immortality isn't invulnerability like the others. His form of immortality comes from a monopoly on Death, and a conscious decision not to die. Abbadon not only kills the dying, but collects their souls. He brings the souls to Sheol, and afterlife that he created. Sheol is primarily for judging the dead, but the judgements have gotten less strict over the years. Abbadon spends most of his waking hours moodily moping about and killing things. Unlike the other Four, The Destroyer doesn't contribute anything to the rest of the nation except during battles. When the nation is at peace, Abbadon sleeps dead in his tomb. Whole Entire History The ancient legends say that humans and dragons were created in a bet between the gods. The trickster god of wind (whose name has been lost) claimed that intelligence was more important than strength. “Give me a monster with no claws, no venom, no armor, and no tail”, he said, “and with a brain it will rule the world.” The god of the seas laughed at his boast, and bet him that a race of powerful beasts would wipe out the Wind’s intelligent beasts. Thus the Wind created the humans while the Sea created the dragons, and the two wagered control of the fog that their race would outlast or destroy the other. Historians from The Age of Reason think it is more likely that humans and dragons evolved or migrated into Liosa at different times and that an abundance of meat made them both into powerful species at around the same time, creating the early competition that caused later animosity. The First Age 0 -Written history begins when King Hirruit of Puun commissions a mapmaker to record his family line and his works. ~200- The Kikl City-State on Liosa discovers bronze and uses its new weapons to conquer neighboring villages. ~260- Emperor Pora of the Kikl City-State conquers twelve of the 25 Liosan human tribes, creating humanity’s first empire. ~290- The Pora Empire fractures when the Emperor dies, humans experience a period of stagnation and revert back to the tribal system. ~400- Magnetic rocks are discovered and used by clerics to display the power of the God of the Stone, converting many to their polytheistic elemental religion. 450- The First Dragon War begins when dragons begin eating farmers’ sheep. 478- The First Dragon War is declared a victory when harpoons along farm borders keep the dragons at bay. ~750- Horse-powered machines are used to sew garments in major human cities. 912- Nimhut the Sea Cleric discovers that matter is not made of seven elements as previously thought, but is inherent in its makeup and design. The Age of Reason 0- Nimhut publishes his Treatise of Matter and tours the six human nations proving his theories with experiments like the reversal of water into snow. The publishing of the Treatise of Matter marks the dawn of The Age Of Reason. The Treatise of Matter theorizes that all matter is made up of blocks that carry their type and size. When you split an object, it simply becomes two objects of smaller sizes. State changes are governed by very specific laws, known as Physical Laws. The implications of this is that mistakes and gaps in the Physical Laws can be exploited. The Treatise of Matter also outlines a scientific method by which information can be considered valid. 12- Dohaz is the first nation to declare Nimhut’s philosophies as its official religion. Nimhut is brought to court as a prophet and is granted men and money to spread the religion that he calls “Neo-Sophism”. 57- Electricity and motors begin to be developed in Dohaz. ~60-100- A wave of other electrical discoveries are made, including the light filament, the heating coil, and the battery. 80-200- Due to new agricultural technology, Dohaz begins expanding in population and borders. Immigrants pour in and several nations steal electrical technology. Other nations begin adopting Neosophism. 230- Dohaz begins setting up tele-wires across the nation to allow rapid communication between cities. 305- Sivune Windborn invents the Calculation Machine in Holdden, a neighboring human nation. It’s mainly used as a toy for aristocrats that want to calculate the size of the sun or the radius of a circle. 310- The Second Dragon War begins when Dohaz settlers are killed while building towns in dragon territory. 346- Dragons raze the human nation of Gurhut and slaughter its citizens. 348- The remaining human nations unite under the flag of the White Hand to fight the dragon assailants. 392- The war has dropped human and dragon populations and strength greatly. Both sides stop their attacks out of exhaustion. 386-506- A dark age brings tyrants, famine, technological stagnation, and civil wars. The White Hand fractures and gives way to warlords and eventually monarchies. 506- The dark age ends with the creation of the Librarian, a successor to the Calculation Machine that stores and shares knowledge. The Librarian brings back forgotten agricultural technology and invigorates scientific discovery. 548-587- Ahazor Mulai reads the Treatise of Matter and begins his search for hidden exploits and mistakes in the Physical Laws. As he searches he shares dozens of new techniques, from turning cow bones into linen, to doubling loaves of bread. 588- Ahazor discovers the Console, a metaphysical, intangiable device which dictates and maintains all the physical laws of the universe. After experimenting with the Console, he discovers that commands entered at the console can create effects in real life. 588- Ahazor shares his recipe to summon the Console and several commands that do things like conjure fresh water from nothing and banish illnesses. Humanity enters its first golden age. 592-596 - Ahazor discovers that commands of a certain type can change the physical laws and even the basic laws of motion. With careful experimentation, he is able to play with the laws of nature and once he has broken the delicate fabric of the world, he can restore the world to the way it was before he tinkered with it. After much study, he finds a way to grant himself access to the console through his mind instead of through the ritual. He calls this direct link “Magic”, after the Dohaz word for power. 604- Ahazor conquers the entirety of the human world through judicious displays of power and efficient neutralization of his enemies. He names his kingdom Ahazuara and brings about the start of humanity's golden age. 606- Ahazor falls victim to old age and dies shortly after taking the throne. Before dying, he rewrites the rules of the human brain to grant every current and future Ahazuaran the Magic link. This immense new power ushers in the Age of Magic. The Age of Magic 0- Schools are quickly erected to teach Ahazuarans the commands of the Console. Elections are held as per Ahazor’s request, and the citizens choose a finance minister. After seeing Ahazor’s power and his decision to share that power with everyone, a feeling of kinship sets over Ahazuara. Human Pride becomes the catchphrase of the time, and new developments in magic are happily shared with the rest of the nation. Magic is used in anger but never in revolution. 4-10- With the immense human pride sentiment, humanity’s age old enemy is quickly declared war upon. The Third Dragon War is swift and brutal. Entire dragon nests are incinerated and dragon wings fail them in midair. 10-Just as it looks as though the dragons will become extinct, a conscientious objector grants them the power of speech. The dragons send waves at major Ahazuaran cities, hoping to be granted an audience. One finally makes it through the human defenses and shocks the entire city by speaking. After much begging and imploring and pulling of human heartstrings, the dragon is able to convince the dictator of Ahazuara to stop the massacre. The Third Dragon War is such a resounding victory that the victors feel bad. 10-40 – The power of speech works wonders for the dragons. They are able to organize into a rudimentary hierarchy and plan a defense strategy should the Ahazuarans strike again. 17- With the war still on the minds of the dragons, the dragon chieftain Tornwing visits the capitol, Dohaz, to parley. To an audience of onlooking humans, Tornwing drops a bag of dragon bones and begins recounting horrific scenes of burning chicks and terrifying escapes. He shows them crude paintings they have made showing landscapes spattered with scarlet dragon blood and eggs that have burst from heat and their half-formed occupants. At the end of his monologue, Tornwing demands assurance that the same massacre will not happen again. After several beats of silence, the mayor at Dohaz stands up and responds. He recounts the old song of the burning of Gurhut, and by the time he reaches the final verse, the entire crowd stands up to chant: “Wet from the Sea yet Burning with Scorn, Never Trust a Dragonborn!” Tornwing speaks personally with the Ahazuaran dictator and they are able to agree that they don’t want a repeat of the Third Dragon War or Gurhut. They also agree that peace between the two is unlikely. Together they work out a set of laws to govern war and they enumerate various illegalities, such as burning residences and targeting civilians. When they have finished they sign the Ahaz-Ignic Treaty with one signed name and one clawmark. 20-160 – Free flow of information and steady peace make the Ahazuarans fat and happy, as well as powerful and progressive. During this period they simultaneously become decadent as well as masters of their art. Young Ahazuarans learn the most efficient way to channel a pillar of fire during the day and consume hallucinogens during the night. 164- The dictator of Ahazuara also grew decadent in his misuse of power, and after rigging a vote-of-no-confidence election, humanity experienced its first revolt in four generations. The throne was taken by radicals that abolished the dictator position entirely and set up a parliament instead. The radicals then abolished the commune-style sharing and illegalized summoning all but the basic necessities, with the goal of bringing back capitalism and driving away the extremes of decadence. 164-190 – The next two decades were a shock to the Ahazuaran system. As people realized that they have to work for things that used to be a spell away, people began to scurry to establish businesses crafting and selling products. New techniques had to be developed, but as many failed business owners learned, sharing their new techniques could be fatal. The generous culture that Ahazor had created disappeared and was replaced with a mistrustful, secretive sentiment. 180-220 - Academies teach much more basic magic, and tomes of older magic are put in high-priced libraries. Around 60% of the population only learns the most basic and necessary magic, and most of the remaining mages specialize in a particular application. Most new magic is discovered in basements, during a hobbyist mage’s free time. Gojac's Rise 223 – Gojac the Architect, working alone in his home, quite by accident, discovers the long-sought secret to immortality. Delving into the dangerous and uncharted field of human health, Gojac simultaneously killed himself with a careless Console command and forced his own rebirth with an even more careless Console command. As he did, the world around him froze and his ears rang with a terrible squeal. After a terrifying minute, the world resumed and thousands of alarmed Ahazuarans looked out their window to see what had happened. The squeal in Gojac’s ears faded to a small whine over the course of a few months and he remained in perpetual good health and vigor. After a building accident on the job, Gojac discovered that he had become immortal and uninjurable. 226- As word spread of Gojac the Architect’s immortality, jealousy spread with it. After a few years, Gojac received a neatly worded letter from the Parliament politely demanding that he share his spell with them. He refused, and the requests got more persistent. Next they sent a courier, and then called him to the capitol at Dohaz. When he continued to refuse their polite requests, they sent goons. The goons attacked him only to discover that they might as well attack the water. When the Parliament began spreading lies about him, he strode into the capitol building and killed them one by one. When he’d finished, he decided he might as well claim the throne. Thus began the Dynasty of Immortals. 230- Gojac’s ego gets the better of him and he declares war on the dragons. He freely hands out military spells he created, making him popular among the people. He portrays himself as kin of Ahazor Mulai, which makes him even more popular. 230-280 – The Fourth Dragon War is not as swift as Gojac had hoped. The dragons have grown smarter, and with the limitations from the Ahaz-Ignic Treaty of 17, the mages can’t use their most powerful spells. Time and again the dragons push back the invaders with organization and firebreath. Each time, Gojac leads a force of his elite mages in a frontal assault, and each time Gojac, retreats alone. The mage population of Ahazuara dwindles, and sentiment towards the war gets more vehement, with some demanding an end to the war, but most demanding revenge against the dragons. Garma's Rise 283- Garma the Harbormaster is serving as a nurse on the front lines of the war. Though she knows most attempts at healing magic have been unsuccessful and attempting it is outright banned in some counties, she is desperate to save the incurable soldiers. Garma manages the same force rebirth spell that Gojac did on accident that night, casting it on a severely wounded soldier. The soldier dies in the same instant, satisfying the same ritual Gojac performed. The soldier screams and the world stops again, with only the soldier’s screams and the darting eyes of nearby mages to break the stillness. When the world resumes, the soldier lies in a disturbing heap of his scattered body parts. Later that night, Garma remembers the stories of when Gojac froze the world on the night he became immortal. Her eyes narrow and she leaps out of her front-line bed to recreate the ritual. She perfects the technique on a passing mouse, the last of which survives. After freezing the world three times, she performs the ritual on herself, with success. Her ears whine as she tests her immortality with a syringe of morphine and a scalpel. 283 – Garma immediately sets about trying to take the throne as soon as she is certain of her immortality. She drops her title of Harbormaster and styles herself “The Sustainer”. She gives speeches in major Ahazuaran cities, demonstrating her own immortality and proclaiming her love for the people. Furthermore, she promises to end the war with the dragons, a controversial yet widely supported promise. 284- Garma gains the support of the Dohaz police and the off-duty soldiers in the cities she campaigns in, and she quickly leads a march into Gojac’s palace. When she arrives, Gojac grudgingly surrenders his throne and retreats to a lonely mansion in the Gurhut Mountains. 284- Within a few months Garma manages to negotiate a ceasefire with the dragon leader, Abd-Ignis. 286- After a few years of rebuilding, Abd-Ignis finally agrees to a more permanent peace with Ahazuara. Both sides have lost thousands, and both sides think the other used unfair tactics. However, the peace negotiations are workable, and both sides list out the atrocities of the other side, including the use of carbon monoxide, guerilla warfare, and the use of tainted alcohol. Both Garma and Abd-Ignis sign the second Ahaz-Ignic treaty in the winter of 286. 284-410 – Garma rules without incident for over a hundred years, proving the implications of an immortal emperor. The country becomes slightly more socialist and hospitals get better funding, but otherwise it’s exactly like Gojac’s reign. Meanwhile, Gojac has been delving deep into biology and robotics in his mountainous hideaway. Over years of tinkering, he has created humanity’s first automaton. Over the decades, his automatons grow more powerful and more sturdy, and Gojac sinks deeper into the madness of solitude. 412 – Gojac returns from his science binge with an army of cyborgs. However, he underestimates the power of the Ahazuaran standing army and his cyborgs are destroyed. He returns to his workshop defeated. Kellus's Rise 670- Kellus Tucoson and Kazor Bunamson make a pact to become the most powerful mages in the world. Many young mages share their dream, but Kellus and Kazor will be one of few to achieve it. 690- Kellus the Researcher makes himself immortal in his laboratory. Kellus is the first to discover the secret without an accident. Kellus is also one of very few mages that understand the workings of the universe and the nuances of the Console. Note: Most mages don’t fully understand magic. The majority use magic the way your parents use a computer; they know that this does that, but don’t attempt to understand any further. Gifted mages understand magic the way the average gamer understands computers; they know that this does this, and this modification can tweak it in the way they want, and they know how to troubleshoot problems with a spell, but they’re just using trial and error for the most part. Kellus understands magic the way an OS designer understands his system. Kellus attempts to perform the ritual for immortality on Kazor. However, Kellus discovers that due to complications at birth, his soul is detached from his body and Kellus cannot complete the ritual. 695 – Kazor, now a specialist in defensive magic, and Kellus decide to take the throne. However, the are not powerful enough to defeat the entire Ahazuaran army, and they know it. The two of them take a two-year journey into the Gurhut Mountains to find Gojac. When they find the ancient mage, he is putting the finishing touches on The Perfect Back-Scratching Machine. They shortly convince Gojac to join them in a three-person coup, along with his army of man-bear hybrids. 699 – Gojac, Kellus, Kazor, and an army of magically empowered half-bears march on Dohaz. The Ahazuaran Mage army marches out to fight them, and prepares for the bloodiest battle Ahazuara has ever seen. However, Garma sends an emissary to bring the three rebels into a parley. Garma offers to share the throne with the three of them if the bear army is incorporated into the Ahazuaran army instead of fighting it. Sharing the throne with three isn’t much worse than sharing it with two, and they accept. However, Kazor’s rule is a short one. Shortly after Gojac and Kellus are settled in to the throne, Garma approaches them. She reasons with them that, in the interest of stability, new immortal mages should be invited to sit the throne to head off rebellions. She also reasons that the death of one of the kings might spark a rebellion, so it would be far better to keep mortals off the throne. Gojac readily agrees, and Kellus, with a bit of convincing, agrees. The three approach Kazor and explain that he should step down from the throne to a more advisory role. Kazor takes it as a grave insult and betrayal, and he refuses. Garma offers to duel him, a casual but harsh threat. Kazor leaves Ahazuara altogether, and sails away to “make his own damn nation”. 707- Kazor, on a distant continent, creates a race of stone servants using spells he learned from Gojac. He declares himself King and names his kingdom “Kazura”. 752- A stone golem from Kazura arrives on Ahazuaran shores. Upon getting an audience with the three rulers, it hands them a note from Kazor detailing his kingdom and his new discoveries in magic. It scolds them for their betrayal and then contains a copy of Kazor’s notebook explaining his discoveries into the workings behind souls. The golem disappears and Kazor is never heard from again. 988 – Disputes between Garma and Kellus result in each denouncing the others’ claim to the throne. A small rebellion ensues and Kellus emerges victorious. 988-1402 – The three rulers undergo eleven rebellions over the course of five centuries. Six of the rebellions are bloodless and merely involve a stealthy assassination or imprisonment, but five involved open battle. In 1402, all three sign an accord detailing four methods for settling disputes and agree to co-rule until a dispute passes all four methods. Over the course of these rebellions, Gojac and Kellus take the titles “The Creator” and “The Alterer” to counter the popularity of Garma’s title. 1022 – The Fifth Dragon War erupts when a dragon is drawn and quartered in a southern city in retaliation for the murder of two Ahazuaran deer hunters. The country is in a violent rebellion, so Garma, Gojac and Kellus all march on the dragons alone to prove their power and commitment to Ahazuara. The body count at the end of the day is three squires and fourteen dragons. The war drags on and boredom mounts in the Ahazuaran cities. As a public display of masculinity, Kellus ends his third of the war by taking a dragon as a mistress. The idea becomes lodged in many Ahazuarans’ minds, and fucking dragons becomes the new bear-wrestling. The fighting ends abruptly as lonely Ahazuarans flock across the border to start new lives and build hybrid families. Human men turn out to be far more fertile than dragon males, and within four generations half of the dragon population is half-human. Due to the specifications of Ahazor’s Blessing, these hybrids are unable to use higher magic, and are therefore not welcome in Ahazuara. Rucahn's Rise 1648 – Rucahn the Advisor is promoted to Kellus’s right hand man. Kellus takes a liking to Rucahn and mentors him, giving him a few of his spells and showing him how the Console really works. Rucahn is a curious soul and spends his free time eagerly absorbing wisdom from Kellus and reading arcane literature in the royal library. 1679 – Combining Kellus’s instruction on the Console and Kazor’s journals on soul magic, Rucahn completes the immortality ritual. As soon as he does, Kellus offers him a spot on the throne, as per Garma’s immortality doctrine. Rucahn takes the title “The Inquirer”, as the good ones have been taken. Abbadon's Rise 1710 – Abbadon is a misanthropic and brilliant loner obsessed with soul magic and manipulation. Working in his home, he unravels the secrets of death and soul disembodiment souls. Over the course of four years he constructs a pocket dimension in which he can store disembodied souls. Testing the pocket dimension out at the local hospital, he finds that he is able to capture the fading souls of dying patients and keep it safe in his pocket dimension. Abbadon spends another two years unraveling natural death. When he has finished, a soul cannot fade or leave its body without him collecting it for his pocket dimension. His system will not collect its master, and Abbadon is rendered immortal not by invincibility, but by inability to be extinguished. A corrupted form of immortality falls over the world for a few weeks, with animals and people able to be mortally wounded but unable to die. After the few weeks, Abbadon implements another system he has been working on—an automatic process to collect souls. In his pocket dimension, Abbadon judges the souls brought to him. His verdict is usually guilty and his punishment is sadistic. For those he deems worthy, a life of ease awaits them; but for the rest, he creates ironic punishments and mental and physical tortures. 1737 – Abbadon has grown more disenchanted with Ahazuara and its kings. He deems them idiotic and amoral, and deems them unfit to live. He creates a plague, the likes of which humankind has never seen, and unleashes it on the capitol city. The Plague eats through soft human flesh, and skeletons lie in the streets. What the Plague doesn’t eat, wild animals do. And when the wild animals eat the plague-infested carcasses, the Plague eats through their flesh as well. The Plague eats through its masters flesh, leaving Abbadon a walking skeleton. Abbadon greets the hordes of Ahazuarans in his pocket dimension, which he has dramatically named “Sheol”, or “Judgement” in Ahazuaran. He styles himself “The Destroyer” to mock the four king’s titles. At the imposing courthouse he confronts people with their darkest secrets and denounces their decadent lifestyles. After the courthouse, the souls are brought to a huge plane, extending forever in every direction. The floor is a luminescent white and the sky is a darkened black. The sinners are tethered to a small area on the floor, but the good are allowed to walk freely among the plane and take whatever creature comforts they find. Meanwhile, in the world of the living, the four kings are doing everything in their power to stop the Plague. They quarantine infected districts only to find that the Plague has sprouted in another district, by the Destroyer’s hand. They weave a spell that incinerates dead bodies as soon as they fall, but the Plague still manages to spread. They set up a field across the country that kills every non-human animal, but the Plague spreads just as well from human to human. This is because, of course, The Destroyer is adapting his plague at every new attempt to ensure that he kills every last Ahazuaran. The four immortal kings arrest The Destroyer when they see the skeleton walking away from the dead. From his jail cell, he demands to speak to them. He gives them a deal: if they will give up their immortality, he will stop the Plague and take them instead of their people. After hours of tense deliberation, they agree. However, it’s futile; they couldn’t kill themselves if they tried, and The Destroyer couldn’t stop the Plague if he wanted to. 1745 – The Plague has run its course. The only things left alive in Ahazuara are Gojac, Garma, Kellus, Rucahn, and Abbadon. Age of Bones Gojac retreated to his old hideaway in the Gurhut mountains in shock. He drowned himself in morphine and alcohol in an attempt to forget. Within fifty years, he had artificial monstrosities attending to his every need and procuring him alcohol. He recovered slowly, and eventually returns to his old lab notes from before Kellus and Kazor approached him. Garma dispelled the anti-animal field over the nation and spent her time taming and caring for the wild animals in the Liosa wilderness. Soon enough she had a posse of domesticated wild animals following her everywhere. Kellus busied himself with delving deeper into the workings of magic. His original intention was to end his immortality, but after years of research he forgot his goal and sought total mastery of the world. Over the centuries Kellus began to see himself greater than the gods of old. After completing every feat from the legends of the elemental gods, Kellus declared himself a god and began erecting shrines to himself. Rucahn was hit the hardest, as he still had a living family when the Plague hit. He spent a year locked in his chambers, and upon emerging he realized he was immortal and spent another year locked in. After his mourning ended, he spent decades in the libraries researching a way to resurrect his family and his subjects. Abbadon severed his soul from his skeletal body, and left it entombed in an extravagant crypt. Over the crypt the words “Now I am Become Death” sat entwined with stone ravens guarding his tomb. He retreated to Sheol to sit as king of the underworld, judging and executing punishments. Over the centuries he got to know his subjects on a more personal level, and slowly began to see that the world is not as black-and-white as he had thought. He reverses many of his sentences and his pocket dimension slowly becomes a pale city instead of a world of torture. Souls from other nations begin to flow into the pale city and the world fills with dragon-hybrids, the proud humans of Derult, and the occasional Mantis Queen. Age of Gods The Four hold a meeting. They agree among themselves that 840 years is enough time for mourning. The Alterer can move on from his fall from power and The Inquirer can forget those he lost. The Sustainer has seen visions that other civilizations will rise, civilizatons that may need Gods to rule them. They agree that it is time to ready themselves to take and step onto the throne again. International Relations The Ignati Tribes Ahazuara has been at war with the Ignati Tribes ever since a loincloth-wearing human wandered into dragon territory. During the modern era, the dragonborn declared war on the Five for no reason other than their deep-seated racial hatred and aggressive Ahazuaran expansonary policies. After three hundred years of a mixture of war and cease-fire, the Five conquered their ancient enemies. The Ignati tribes are now in the process of being oppressed. Kaz'ur Neither nation realizes it, but the Great Father of the Ashik is Kellus's old friend Kazor. The two are often on rocky terms, as they have been in opposing alliances three times and their armies were destroyed in the conquest of the Ignati. However, their mutual love of magic and respect for the past makes them solid friends. Ashelani The Ashelani, a mantis hive-mind, disgusts Kellus and unsettle the rest of the Five. Because of this, their diplomatic meetings are always terse. Their inability to understand basic social and anatomical boundaries make matters far worse. Their first real contact with the Five was when their alliance declared war on the Five. However, their armies have never fought on the field of battle, and relations are looking up now that an Ashelani proto-queen has been sent to live with the Five as an emissary. Mulakka Mulakka has been a neutral nation throughout most of history. During the War for Dwarven Ale, Mulakka was the only nation to not take a side. During the Seventh Dragon War, Mulakka attempted numerous times to broker a peace. After the conquest of the Ignati, Mulakka allied with The Five, attracted to their huge stores of gold. Legaros Who? Rhiam Reich Once, the Reich was closely allied with The Five, during the War for Dwarven Ale. However, the Reich was caught spreading the Hunger to every continent. The Hunger is some sort of infection made of pure evil, and is banned under the Ahaz-Ignic Treaty of 286. The Five broke their alliance with the Reich and prepared to attack them. However, the Rhiam continent was overrun by the Hunger and a ground assault become both dangerous and pointless. Category:Nations of Celtanus